My Love For You
by InsanityRunsInMyBlood
Summary: "Your husband, but never your love." Ozai discovers something and confronts Ursa about it. SPOILERS FOR 'THE SEARCH! Read only if you've read the comic! Urzai, adult-ish themes, so should be rated M but nothing explicit, so T.


**AN: Okay this was made pretty fast, as a 'rebellion', if you will, against 'The Search' comic. SPOILERS AHEAD!**

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"Leave." Ozai said quietly. Elua sighed and bowed.

"As you wish, Fire Prince Ozai." She murmured sadly, retreating.

Ozai stood in the training room, clenching the letter in his hand.

"It can't be true." He murmured, rereading the flowing calligraphy. He turned it over and frowned, and held it up into the light. It was just an ordinary piece of parchment. Judging by the look of it, it was written recently. His eyes settled on the loving strokes and precisely inked characters.

_My dearest Ikem…I am in love with you…pain…our son Zuko…my thoughts are with you always…_

"Love, Ursa." He whispered.

Ozai's eyebrows furrowed together, and the corners of his lips pulled down. He stood alone in the training chamber, sweat cooling on his body. His feverish gaze swept through the letter again, and he closed his eyes. A foreign feeling invaded him, and his heart clenched.

Carefully, he folded up the letter again, looking at the doorway. Without even putting his shirt on, he strode through the corridors, ignoring all the servants offering more towels or on a few occasions, freshly laundered clothes.

His main concern was Ursa right now.

He flung open the doors to their chambers and found Ursa brushing her hair in front of the mirror. She looked up and smiled faintly as he entered. He slid the piece of paper behind his back discreetly and walked up to her.

"My husband." She murmured, putting down the brush.

"Your husband, but never your love." Ozai said bitterly. Ursa looked confused. "Don't lie to me anymore, Ursa." His voice sounded pained. He slammed the letter down onto the table, rattling everything. His hands clenched into fists. Ursa's eyes widened at the sight of it. "Oh, so you _do_ recognize it." Ozai said acerbically. "Maybe it's because you just _wrote it_!"

"Why would she…" Ursa mumbled to herself, fear evident in her tone.

"Why would she give this to me? You forget, Ursa, that I am a prince of the nation, and will always hold more rights than you do. The servants are loyal to _me_." Ozai snarled. Ursa quailed in fear, getting down on her knees and prostrating herself in front of him.

"My prince I…" She fumbled with her words, the panic written into her tones. Ozai stood in front of her, refusing to acknowledge the burning in his eyes.

"Get up." He said harshly. She quickly got up, not wanting to anger him further. Ozai turned around, not wanting to look upon the beautiful, gentle woman he had married.

"Is this the same man you asked me to spare that day my father and I went to your hometown?" His voice trembled with anger.

"Yes, my prince." Her voice was small.

"WHY?" He whirled around, eyes blazing. The temperature in the room rose by a few degrees, and Ursa started to sweat. "And why did you not tell me that Zuko…isn't ours?" His voice cracked, but he could not care less at that moment.

Ursa did not answer. For the longest while the couple stayed in the tense silence that had long since permeated the room.

"Did you ever love me?" Ozai asked abruptly. Ursa looked up, amber eyes swimming with tears. She opened her mouth, confused. "Just say yes or no." He said quietly.

Ashamed, Ursa looked down.

"No, my prince."

Ozai's fists clenched again. Then they relaxed, and his hands hung limp at his sides. He turned, but his hair obscured his face from view as he looked down.

"I love you, you know?" He said softly, looking up. Ursa saw his golden eyes softened and full of sincerity, and she knows that this man has indeed fallen for her. "At first it was an arranged marriage, of course. I thought you were pretty, but I didn't love you." He continued. "But a few months into our marriage, I got to know you better, and…and…I fell in love with you, Ursa."

He didn't sound like a prince of the Fire Nation. He sounded defeated and torn.

He was broken.

And Ursa knew she was the reason why.

"When you told me you were pregnant for a few months already, I had thought that the child was conceived on our wedding night." Ozai said. "When Zuko was born…I was the happiest man in the world." He said quietly, tearing his eyes away from her. "I love him…or should I say, I loved him as my own." He said humorlessly. "That was before I knew that he wasn't my son." He said bitterly. "So…you and Ikem…"

"I'm sorry, my prince." Tears ran down Ursa's face. "But I had given myself to Ikem before you came. We were in love." She said. Ozai didn't miss the past tense.

"You still are." He rectified softly. There was a pregnant pause.

"I'm sorry." Ursa repeated again, refusing to look at him.

There was another pause, and Ursa peeked up shyly.

Ozai was stunned to feel the moisture on his cheeks. His hand rose and captured a drop of his tears. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, looking away.

"Would it make you happy if I allowed you to go back to your village?" He finally whispered.

"What?" Ursa's exclaim came out as a gasp of astonishment.

"If it makes you happy." Ozai murmured. "I will allow you to return to your village." He said, and Ursa could practically taste the agony rolling off of him in waves. His eyes met hers again, and she could see within his golden depths, that he truly hoped that she would stay—with him.

"No, my prince." She said in a strong voice, surprising even herself. "I will stay with you."

"With…me?" Ozai whispered.

"With you." Ursa placed a hesitant hand on Ozai's chest, and the man simply couldn't find it within himself to do anything else except for to pull her against him and shed his tears into her hair.

"I love you." He mumbled.

"I know." Ursa smiled sadly, and she thinks that perhaps she will grow to love him in the future as well.

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**There you go. Hope you liked that, and feel free to point out any mistakes! Please R&R!**


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